For a paperback book in outline form which addresses over 150 difficult verses that Arminians use against Sovereign Grace, check out: Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace: Rooting Arminianism Out of Every Verse.
For a master copy of the outline, click here:
Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace
44. Joh 6:40
A. "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (Joh 6:40)
B. Is this verse setting forth a condition for acquiring eternal life?
C. First of all, there are two conditions, not one, in this verse that must be met to have everlasting life: seeing the Son and believing on Him.
i. These conditions do not cause eternal life since eternal salvation is not conditional (Tit 3:5) (see section II,7,A,i).
ii. They are rather evidential, as are good works (Rom 2:6-7), showing that a person has eternal life.
D. Secondly, a comparison of verse 40 with verse 39 shows that "everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him" (v.40) are "all which he hath given me" (v.39), and those that "may have everlasting life" (v.40) are those of whom Jesus said, "I should lose nothing" (v.39).
i. Those who come to Jesus (see and believe in Him) whom He will raise up at the last day are those whom the Father has drawn to Him (Joh 6:44).
ii. Draw v. - 1. a. trans. To cause (anything) to move toward oneself by the application of force; to pull.
iii. Therefore, those who see the Son and believe on Him are those whom God the Father caused to come to Him and gave to Christ (His elect).
iv. Those who come to Christ in faith show that they have eternal life and that they shall not come into condemnation, but will be raised up at the last day (Joh 5:24) (See Joh 5:24 - Section III, 41).
45. Joh 6:47
A. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." (Joh 6:47)
B. Does this verse teach that a person acquires eternal life by believe in Christ?
C. No, it says that he that believeth hath, not gets, everlasting life.
D. (See Joh 3:36 - Section III, 38)
46. Joh 6:50-58
A. "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52) The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53) Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56) He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58) This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." (Joh 6:50-58)
B. Does this passage teach that one has to literally eat Jesus' flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life?
i. Obviously not. Eternal salvation is not of works (Tit 3:5) (see section II,7,A,i), and literally eating Christ's flesh and drinking his blood are works.
ii. This, like so many other passages (ex: Joh 5:29), sets forth evidence that a person has eternal life, not gives conditions to acquire it.
C. Bread n. - 1. (Only in OE.) Bit, piece, morsel (of food). 2. a. A well-known article of food prepared by moistening, kneading, and baking meal or flour, generally with the addition of yeast or leaven. 5. a. Livelihood, means of subsistence.
D. Bread is food (Joh 6:5) and a means of subsistence (Mat 6:11).
E. God gave Israel bread from heaven to sustain them in the wilderness before they entered the promised land (Joh 6:31).
F. Jesus was the fulfillment of which the manna from heaven was a picture (Joh 6:32-33).
G. Jesus satisfies the hunger and thirst of the soul (Joh 6:35 c/w Joh 4:10,13-14 c/w Mat 5:6).
H. If a man eats of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Heaven, he shall live forever (Joh 6:51).
i. The bread is Jesus' flesh which He gave for the life of the world (Joh 6:51).
ii. If a man eateth Christ's flesh and drinketh His blood, he hath eternal life (Joh 6:54).
iii. He that eateth Christ's flesh and drinketh His blood dwelleth in Christ (Joh 6:56).
iv. Notice how eateth, drinketh, hath, and dwelleth are all present tense, which shows that partaking of Christ is the evidence, not the cause, of one's eternal life and dwelling in Christ.
I. The bread that Jesus gave for the life of the world was His flesh, His body (Joh 6:51).
i. Jesus offered His body once as a sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:10-14).
ii. By the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:26), He abolished death that we may live eternally (2Ti 1:10; 1Co 15:54-57).
iii. Priests are partakers of the sacrifice on the altar (1Co 9:13; 1Co 10:18).
iv. We are the priests who partake of Christ, the sacrifice (1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6).
v. Eating Jesus' flesh is being a partaker in His death for sin (Gal 2:20; Rom 6:6).
J. Jesus was speaking of spiritually partaking of Him when He spoke of eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
i. Like an unborn baby dwells in its mother and lives by eating and drinking her flesh and blood, so we live by spiritually partaking of Christ.
ii. "To feed upon Christ is to do all in his name, in union with him, and by virtue drawn from him; it is to live upon him as we do upon our meat." - Matthew Henry
iii. "...our bodies may as well live without meat as our souls without Christ." - Matthew Henry
iv. "We shall live, shall live eternally, by him, as our bodies live by our food." -Matthew Henry
v. "The life of believers is had from Christ (Joh 1:16); it is hid with Christ (Col 3:4), we live by him as the members by the head, the branches by the root; because he lives, we shall live also." - Matthew Henry
K. Israel in the wilderness partook of Christ in this way (1Co 10:3-4).
47. Joh 7:37-39
A. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39) (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (Joh 7:37-39)
B. (See Joh 4:10 - Section III, 39)
48. Joh 10:9
A. "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (Joh 10:9)
B. Was Jesus teaching that men are saved eternally by entering in the door of the sheepfold?
C. The door is the door of the sheepfold (Joh 10:1).
i. Door n. - 1. a. A movable barrier of wood or other material, consisting either of one piece, or of several pieces framed together, usually turning on hinges or sliding in a groove, and serving to close or open a passage into a building, room, etc.
ii. Sheepfold n. - 1. A pen or enclosure for sheep.
D. Jesus is the door (or the way into) of the sheepfold (Joh 10:7).
i. Jesus is the way by which we get to God (Joh 14:6).
ii. One has to be a sheep to get into the sheepfold.
iii. The sheep were given to Jesus by the Father for Him to give eternal life to (Joh 6:39; Joh 17:2-4).
iv. Jesus gave eternal life to His sheep (Joh 10:15; Joh 10:27-28).
v. The sheep enter into the sheepfold by Jesus ("by me") (Joh 10:9).
vi. They follow Him into the sheepfold (Joh 10:2 c/w Joh 10:27) because they are in Him (Eph 1:4).
E. There are two ways in which the sheep are saved by entering in through the door of the sheepfold.
i. In an eternal sense, Jesus brings the sheep into the fold by giving them eternal life (Joh 10:28).
a. This would be the eternal kingdom which God's children have been translated into (Col 1:13).
b. Translate v. - 1. a. trans. To bear, convey, or remove from one person, place or condition to another; to transfer, transport
c. Jesus drew His sheep to himself by His death on the cross for them (Joh 12:32) (See Joh 12:32 - Section III, 50)
1. God the Father first drew the sheep to Jesus (Joh 6:44).
2. Draw v. - 1. a. trans. To cause (anything) to move toward oneself by the application of force; to pull.
d. The sheep enter into the sheepfold (the eternal kingdom) in an eternal sense by the sovereign act of God.
ii. In a temporal sense, the sheep follow Jesus into the fold by faith and obedience, and they find pasture.
a. This would be the church, the kingdom of God in this world, which God's children enter into by belief and baptism (Act 2:41; Mat 21:31 c/w Luk 7:29).
b. By following Christ in the church they find pasture (Act 2:42,46-47).
iii. This is the life (eternal) and the abundant life (temporal) that Jesus came to give His sheep (Joh 10:10).
For a master copy of the outline, click here:
Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace
